Title: The Truth About ForeverAuthor: Sarah DessenDate Started: June 12Date Finished: June 15Format: Paperback from my own shelf

As I have previously stated with my reviews for Sarah Dessen books, I absolutely adore them – except for Dreamland and That Summer – but I feel like I need to amend that statement. Now, before you think ‘wait, does that mean she didn’t like this book, too?’ No. I loved this book, it’s just that The Truth About Forever and Just Listen have some minor plot lines that I am not too big of a fan of.

Macy is trying to be perfect. She has the perfect boyfriend, the mother who has high expectations of her daughter, and a summer job where if she’s not perfect they will eat her alive. But she isn’t perfect, no matter how hard she tries to be. Her cracks start showing the summer that Jason decides to go away to Brain Camp and gives her the responsibility to cover for him at his library information desk job. His other two co-workers hate her and don’t understand how Jason can be with a girl like her. After complaining in an e-mail to him (and signing it with I love you), he sends her one back that suggests that they take a break for the summer and see how things stand when he comes back. Not sure how to handle this, she goes for a drive and comes across the WISH catering truck that had been at her house earlier in the summer. She takes another job with them and starts an interesting summer…

Okay, so obviously I really hated Jason, he was just so controlling and I really don’t think he cared too much for Macy at all, he just believed that he did. Like when he does come back from Brain Camp and tries to get back together with her, he’s like ‘let’s make a list of what we want out of this relationship.’ A guy like that doesn’t need a relationship with a human being, he needs one with a robot. The character of Wes was just…there are actually no words to describe this amazing character. Especially the way that Macy and his friendship grew into something more. Perfection. Still, another YA book where the parent was annoying, although with this one I could somewhat see where she was coming from. She was a grieving parent, who had a business to run, and a daughter who she thought was trying to be perfect is sort of breaking out of her shell and she doesn’t know how to handle all of it at once. But still, I liked Deborah better after her meltdown than I did throughout the rest of the book.

So what’s the plot line that I’m having issues with? Macy’s dad’s death. Not the best book to read during Father’s Day weekend, and because I’m really close to my dad any book that has the dad dead kind of makes me cry.

Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Another perfect summer read by Dessen, just wish that the dad hadn’t been dead.

Bookshelf worthy? I finally read my copy after two years of having it on my shelf!